Posted on 09/24/2015 9:18:05 AM PDT by Reaganite Republican
I remember seeing a 10-hp Sachs Wankel “MAC 10” outboard in a shop in Mississippi. Mid-1970s, I believe. I think the shop went bankrupt with that motor still in inventory (German-Italian outboards weren’t big sellers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast).
No kidding? If I could get one of those outboards on a bass boat...I’d love to try it out on Lake St. Clair.
I’ve also studied this engine, it’s my favorite. The engine block rotates around the crankshaft. This engine had so much torque it could tear the airplane up if not properly piloted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk9Dl6RZxmQ
Yes. It had a clear plastic ‘block’ and an electric motor which made it turn.
OMC would have probably pursued the Wankel designs for ordinary consumer use, but by 1975 or so EPA was already making noise about wanting to regulate emissions on outboards. It was also around that time that those Kawasaki 2-stroke street bikes began coming up against bans in California, so the regulation death-spiral had already begun.
“As a young boy I had a plastic wankel rotary engine model which fascinated me.”
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You mean the clear plastic one, lubricated with graphite?
Run by C or D batteries?
I had it too! Had a V-8 as well, I think they called it the ‘Visible V-8’
I had one too, as well as a V-8 one just like it
I have a neighbor two doors down who has several cars, which did include an RX8. Real cute car. Thought I might like one, until the rollback came and hauled it to the shop because it wouldn’t even run.
After the seventh (7th) trip on the rollback, he got rid of the pos, and I lost my desire to own one. Face it; if that design had really been great and dependable, Wankel would have been another Shelby or some such wealthy automotive celebrity, and many besides Mazda would be using it SUCCESSFULLY. IMHO.
Mazdas
Let me see. ‘73 RX-3 wagon.
‘82 B2000 pickup
‘82 used RX-7
‘88 MX6-GT. I think that was a turbo piston.
‘93 RX-7 pocket rocket. Twin rotary turbo. I only got it up to 155 before I let up. Top was 160-165 area.
‘08 CX7 which we still drive today and plan on keeping.
On the ‘73 the seals on the rotors went out and Mazda said the engine needed to be replaced. It cost me $300 and they paid the rest. This was after the warranty ran out.
The tranny on the truck needed replacing or fixing which came outta my pocket.
And the bearings on the CX-7s air or power steering units went out. That was a major fix all of which Mazda took care of well after warranty. CX-7 is a nice car.
I’ve got a RO-80 brochure. :)
The first 4 speed I ever soloed in was an RX-7
Didn’t go far enough to get good at it.
My buddy from Germany told me that the NSUs were so bad that when drivers passed each other on the road, they held out their hand with the number of fingers displayed indicating how many engines they’d gone through.
GM spend a lot of money on rotary development but the gas mileage and emissions were a big problem.
The long, thin combustion chamber is exactly the opposite of what you want for efficiency and low emissions. Unequalled smoothness though.
Both still on sale, largely unchanged.
48 bucks on Amazon.
No kidding
Very cool
That’s a twin of the one I used to drive in college, my GF’s car
Same year, same color- deja vu!
Cosmos was the upscale coupe, they made them until just a few years back for the Japanese market
The Vette prototype was great looking too
A true believer, you are- and early adaptor!
I just went to the Mercedes museum this summer in Stuttgart,
saw all the Benz rotary prototypes, C-111 and such
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